HEB Fall 2026 Colloquium Series: Dr. Anna Kukekova

We invite you to the second HEB Colloquium with Dr. Anna Kukekova, Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Talk Title: The Fox Domestication Experiment: A Lens into Animal Domestication and the Evolution of Social Behavior

Abstract: For over six decades, silver foxes (Vulpes vulpes) have been selectively bred for their behavioral responses to humans in the effort known as the Farm-Fox Experiment. Launched before the scientific demonstration that dogs evolved from wolves, the experiment was designed to test whether selecting solely for friendly behavior to humans could produce a tame fox. The program yielded two populations — tame and aggressive — that demonstrate the central role of behavioral selection in animal domestication and provide a window into the multilevel biological shifts that accompany it. In my talk, I will share genetic, neurobiological, and behavioral findings from these foxes and discuss how experimental fox domestication can shed light on the mechanisms of animal domestication and the evolution of social behavior.